FRED & ME: Virtual reading by Allan Goldstein

Saturday, October 30, 2021 - 3:00pm to 4:00pm
New York, NY 10032

 

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Join author Allan B. Goldstein, as he reads from his new book Fred and Me and discusses the disability rights movement with Memphis Washington and Ernie Alugas. 

About Fred and Me

A second parent’s death jettisons an older brother from estranged, resentful sibling, to fierce, angry advocate, from somebody who periodically heard about his institutionalized brother to somebody who rescues a life. A person speaking strangely, walking oddly, looking different is not thought to have feelings, ideas, or desires. That person is “the other.” Fred and Me, a Willowbrook Survivor’s Story shows the emergence of a person whose childhood and adolescence were lived in the infamous Willowbrook State School. This memoir of two strangers reconnecting while helping each other rediscover themselves portrays the value of enormous devotion when combating the stigma of living differently. This memoir is a love story of brothers reunited.

About the Author

Allan B. Goldstein is an author, lecturer, disability activist, and native Brooklynite. In his memoir, Fred and Me, a Willowbrook Survivor’s Story, Goldstein shares his transformational experiences as older sibling and guardian to Fred, who survived the notorious institution for people with disabilities, Willowbrook State School on Staten Island. Separated from his brother in childhood, Goldstein remains steadfast in getting to know Fred as an adult and in his belief that Fred can do more than society expects of him. Goldstein’s memoir is a call to action for us all—to create equity and inclusion for people with disabilities.

Goldstein is an NYU Tandon School of Engineering Senior Lecturer. Leading the creation of the Disabilities Studies cross-school minor, Goldstein’s course brings together engineering students and people with disabilities to learn disability history, collaborate on digital stories—and grow a deeper understanding of each other. Goldstein is a winner of the 2018-2019 NYU Distinguished Teaching Award, the 2016-2017 NYU Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award and the 2012 Tandon Jacobs Excellence in Education Award. In 2017, WPIX featured him as a Changemaker and the Chronicle of Higher Education highlighted his work on its inaugural list of Teaching Innovators.

A former professional actor, Allan also serves on the Pace University Disability Film Festival screening committee, which features films by and about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Fred and Me: a Willowbrook Survivor's Story By Allan Benjamin Goldstein Cover Image
$14.95
ISBN: 9798723729469
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Independently Published - March 20th, 2021